Podcast: How Is The U.S. Dealing With Growing Cybersecurity Threat … Without A Cybersecurity Czar?

Marketplace Tech (7/31/18)

Hackers, probably Russian, successfully broke into electric utilities last summer. Homeland security officials revealed those intrusions for the first time last week. There were also reports last week of attempted cyberattacks on various members of Congress, and this week, the Senate is likely to have a showdown over funding for election security. There had been a White House cybersecurity coordinator who organized the national response to cyberattacks, but the Trump administration eliminated the job back in May.

Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood talks with Daniel Castro, vice president at the nonprofit Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, about what this means for U.S. cybersecurity.

Link to 4-Minute Audio

• GOP Rejects Adding More Money To Beef Up Election Security — WASHINGTON ― Republicans on Wednesday rejected a bid to direct another $250 million to election security ahead of the November midterms, maintaining that funds Congress previously allocated for the effort have not yet been spent. In March, lawmakers approved $380 million to help safeguard state voting systems from cyberattacks in the wake of Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. Democrats proposed an amendment that would have appropriated an additional $250 million to bolster election systems, replace outdated equipment and undertake other protective efforts. Last month, a bipartisan group of attorneys general from 21 states urged Congress to commit more funding to the effort ahead of the midterms. … Read the Rest